Boiler Banter: Even as No. 6 Seed, Purdue Has Favorable Path in Big Ten Tournament

It's no secret that Purdue's season didn't go as planned. With sights set on a third straight Big Ten title, the Boilermakers came up short of expectations, finishing with a 13-7 mark in league play, tied for fourth in the conference standings.

Throughout the end of the season, Purdue expressed disappointment in its inability to bring another league title back to West Lafayette. Coach Matt Painter talked about it in his postgame press conference following an 88-80 loss to Illinois. Veteran players Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn discussed it at times during the final seven-game stretch, a window in which the Boilers lost five times.

But the beauty of college basketball? Purdue still has an opportunity to add a trophy to its collection. It starts this week in Indianapolis. And, maybe this is just an optimistic outlook, but I happen to think Painter's crew drew a a somewhat favorable path to the championship.

Purdue earned the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will play its first game on Thursday night, taking on the winner of No. 11 Rutgers vs. No. 14 USC, a game played Wednesday. In the three regular season games between those two teams (two vs. Rutgers and one vs. USC), the Boilermakers went 3-0 with an average margin of victory of 21.7 points per game.

If the Boilermakers take care of business on Thursday, they'll play No. 3 seed Michigan on Friday. Purdue took care of the Wolverines 91-64 in West Lafayette on Jan. 24. Then, on Feb. 11, Michigan defeated Purdue 75-73 when a potential game-winning three-pointer from Braden Smith came up short.

A potential Saturday opponent for Purdue would be one of four teams — No. 2 Maryland, No. 7 Illinois, No. 10 Ohio State or No. 15 Iowa — with the two most-likely candidates being the Terrapins or Fighting Illini.

Purdue defeated Maryland 83-78 in the lone regular season meeting, but lost an 88-80 decision to Illinois the only time the two teams played.

Obviously, there are no guarantees in tournament play. Winning three straight games to get to the Championship Game on Sunday is going to be a difficult task. Purdue would have loved to make life easier by earning a double-bye and getting the chance to rest until Friday.

That's not the case, though.

Purdue hasn't been playing its best basketball as of late. It's fresh off a four-game losing streak and has dropped five of its last seven contests. I understand that, at this point in the year, there is no such thing as an "easy road" to a conference tournament championship.

Given the circumstances, the Boilers find themselves in a favorable position heading into the Big Ten Tournament. It's a spot that presents a path to the Championship Game and an opportunity for the team to bring back a conference tournament title back to West Lafayette.

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